The World - News from July 20, 1988

Burma’s minister for home and religious affairs resigned as the official Rangoon Radio reported that 41 detainees suffocated to death in a police van during riots in March. Ming Gaung resigned amid preparations for a meeting of Burmese leaders Saturday to chart reforms after five months of opposition pressure. The radio said that 71 detainees were packed into a van and taken to a Rangoon jail but that, when the doors were opened two hours later, 41 were dead. Diplomats have said that more than 200 people died during the March riots and in later clashes.